On the night before a match, he sets the alarm to wake up between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. to drink water to keep his body hydrated.

Didn't bat in the nets even once during the 2003 World Cup-where he finished the highest run-getter.

Refused to do a Pepsi ad as it required him to smash cricket balls with a fly-swatter. He told filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar that this will project him as bigger than the game.

Fielded for Pakistan as a substitute during a one-day practice match with India at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium in 1988.

He simulates his body to conditions and weather ahead of a game. A day before the 2010 Colombo Test, he stood by the pitch, all padded up, for close to two hours in the sun, to let his body absorb heat. He scored a double century in that Test.